Iranian Oil Still Flowing to China via Strait of Hormuz | China in Focus

Welcome to China In Focus. I'm Timothy Meyer. Our top story. Iranian oil still flowing to China through the Strait of Hormuz despite the war, while analysts say China may be sending military support back to Iran. A close encounter in the skies over the Yellow Sea. Australia says a Chinese helicopter flew dangerously close to its Navy aircraft. We break down the situation. What was a key tool that helped the US and Israel successfully take down Iran's regime Those Chinese surveillance cameras blanketing Iran's capital. Washington sending a signal to Beijing ahead of President Trump's meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. A US aircraft transited international airspace over the Taiwan Strait, which separates the island nation from China. And the Iran crisis is shaping up as more than a regional fight, with experts saying it's part of a broader struggle for influence between the US and China. From the Middle East to Latin America, both powers are vying for control. And with President Trump's possible trip to Beijing, the stakes are higher than ever. Iran continues to send large amounts of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz to China despite the ongoing war. According to tanker trackers, nearly 12 million barrels of Iranian oil have passed through the critical waterway since the war began. That includes a supertanker carrying 2 million barrels on Monday. Ship trackers show that some have successfully navigated the Strait by registering as Chinese-owned with Chinese crews. Others report similar arrangements or protections, including Turkish ships. Analysts suggest Beijing may have reached a deal with Tehran in exchange for petroleum, supplying Iran with military equipment and intelligence. Two Iranian ships recently departed from the Gaolan port in southeastern China. The Washington Post reports that Gaolan is a loading port for chemicals, including a key precursor for solid rocket fuel that Iran needs for its missile program. Iran has also shipped gas and oil products, with at least 11 other tankers reaching China since February 28th. On Wednesday, Trump delivered updates saying the US has hit 28 Iranian mine-laying ships so far. 16 of them were hit the day before. According to Central Command, those boats were part of a larger group of Iranian vessels eliminated by the US. US Central Command posting a video yesterday on Axe showing strikes on the vessels. The Post says US forces eliminated multiple Iranian naval vessels on March 10th, including 16 mine layers near the Strait of Hormuz. Nearly one-fifth of the world's oil travels through the Strait of Hormuz. In a post on Truth Social earlier, President Trump warns that any mines laid in the Strait by Iran must be removed immediately, threatening military consequences if Tehran fails to comply. President Trump says the US is hitting the Iranian regime harder than virtually any country has been hit in history, and it's not done yet. NTD's Washington correspondent Mario Tse has more. The US Central Command this morning is saying that US forces continue to deliver, quote, devastating combat power against the Iranian regime. Admiral Bradley Cooper is saying that the Iranian combat power is, quote, declining, with the US still focused on very clear military objectives laid out by President Trump. Cooper's also announcing that to date, in these past 12 days, the US has struck more than 5,500 targets inside Iran, including more than 60 Navy ships, using a variety of precision weapon systems. And President Trump is telling Axios today that there's, quote, practically nothing left to target inside the regime. Take a look. We have hit them harder than virtually any country in history has been hit, and we're not finished yet. We took out just about all of their mine ships in one night. We're up to boat number 60. I didn't realize they had that big a Navy. I would say it was big and ineffective. But every one of their ships, just about all of their Navy is gone at the bottom of the sea. And this comes as President Trump yesterday demanded that the Iranian regime, quote, immediately remove all mines inside of the Strait of Hormuz or face military consequences at a, quote, level never seen before. He also said that Iran will be hit, quote, 20 times harder than before if the regime blocks the flow of oil through the Hormuz Strait. And today, the International Energy Agency is announcing that it's going to release a record 400 million barrels of oil, the largest release of emergency energy stockpiles in history. Here's the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum responding to this. Take a look. These are the kinds of moments that these reserves are used for because what we have here is not a shortage of energy in the world. We've got a transit problem, which is temporary. And when you have a temporary transit problem that we're resolving militarily and diplomatically, which we can resolve and will resolve, this is the perfect time to think about releasing some of those. And this comes as the White House says that once the national security objectives of Operation Epic Fury are achieved, we can actually see gas and oil prices at potentially lower prices than they were before the start of the operation. The International Energy Agency agrees to launch the largest release of oil reserves in the agency's history. The IEA has more than 30 members, including the U.S., which is a founding and key member country. NTD's international correspondent Arian Pozdar has the latest on the international effort to combat rising energy prices amid the IEA countries have unanimously decided to launch the largest ever release of emergency oil stocks in our agency's history. The International Energy Agency, or IEA, announcing a major release of oil reserves when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. IEA member countries released just under 200 million barrels, which was then the largest in the agency's history. This will now be more than doubled. IEA countries will be making 400 million barrels of oil available. I repeat, 400 million barrels of oil available to the market to offset the supply lost through the effective closure of the strait. Ships can no longer pass through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran threatened to attack any cargo ship that passes through it. Up to 25% of the global oil supply flows through the strait. However, the European Union says this shouldn't be a reason to go back to buying oil from Russia. We have energy sources that are homegrown, renewables and nuclear. Their prices have remained the same over the last 10 days. Yet in current crisis, some argue that we should abandon our long-term strategy and even go back to Russian fossil fuels. This would be a strategic blunder. The European Commission also saying it doesn't see an immediate security supply issue in the European Union for gas or for oil in the short term. However, we stand ready to take all necessary measures in coordination with the International Energy Agency members and take into account regional and national circumstances and security considerations. The spokesperson added that at the moment, the bloc's oil reserves are still full. Arian Pasdar, NTV News. President Trump says the U.S. will build a new oil refinery with funding from India's largest private energy company, Reliance Industries. The refinery in Brownsville, Texas, will be the United States' first new facility in 50 years. In a Truth Social post, the president called a $300 billion deal historic, thanking Reliance Industries for its investment. America First Refining is in charge of the project at the southern border. The company says when fully operational, the refinery will offset $300 billion in the U.S. trade deficit with India. The company's chairman and founder says the refinery will be designed specifically to process American shale oil. Many U.S. Gulf Coast refineries are currently unable to process light, sweet crude oil from fracking shale fields. A close call in the skies over the Yellow Sea, Australia reported that a Chinese military helicopter flew dangerously close to one of its Navy aircraft, calling the interaction unsafe and unprofessional. Officials say it happened last week in international waters while enforcing United Nations sanctions on North Korea. The Australian government says a Chinese Navy helicopter approached an Australian Navy MH-60R Seahawk, matched its altitude and closed in to unsafe distance. Australia's helicopter was forced to take evasive action after the Chinese aircraft moved ahead, increased speed and rolled toward it. No damage or injuries were reported. Since 2018, several countries, including Canada, Germany and the U.K., have taken part in monitoring missions near the same waters. Some have also reported harassment by Chinese ships and aircraft in recent years. Australia says this isn't the first close call. Last October, a Chinese fighter released flares near an Australian surveillance plane over the South China Sea. Meanwhile, Japan says two Chinese aircraft flew reconnaissance missions near its southwest region back in February, prompting Japanese fighter jets to scramble. Japan is preparing to deploy its first batch of homegrown long-range missiles, missiles that can hit targets in China. The missiles will be deployed to southwestern Japan by late March in a region facing China and Taiwan. Japan's defense ministry has expedited the missile deployment by a year, as Tokyo ramps up its military amid concerns over China's growing aggression. Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sunai has pledged to revise defense policy by the end of this year and bolster Japan's military. Tensions between Japan and China have risen after Takaichi's remark that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Japan. Washington is sending a message to Beijing ahead of President Trump's meeting with Xi Jinping. A U.S. Navy aircraft transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace Wednesday. The U.S. 7th Fleet says the move demonstrates America's commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The Taiwan Strait separates Taiwan from mainland China. The move comes amid growing concerns that U.S.-Israel strikes could deplete munitions the U.S. might need in the event of a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan. In a statement, the 7th Fleet said by operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the U.S. upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations. In a February phone call, Xi Jinping told Trump that the U.S.'s position on Taiwan was the most important issue in U.S.-China relations. The Chinese Communist Party sees Taiwan as its own and has pledged to take it by force if necessary. That's despite never having ruled it. Taiwan's government rejects China's claims and says only the island's people can decide their future. The U.S. doesn't have formal relations with Taiwan, but Washington sells arms to the island so it can defend itself. A majority of the most advanced chips that power U.S. weapons systems and cars are made in Taiwan. Taiwan also sits on a chain of islands that prevents China from launching submarine-based nuclear attacks against the U.S. It's just one of many unresolved issues between the two superpowers. Other points of tension include China's unfair trade practices, tariffs, fentanyl, rare earth exports, and its purchase of U.S. Coming up, what was the key tool that helped the U.S. and Israel successfully take down Iran's regime leader Ali Khamenei? Those Chinese surveillance cameras blanketing Iran's capital. We break it down. And the Iran crisis is shaping up as more than a regional fight, with experts saying it's part of a broader struggle for influence between the U.S. and China. From the Middle East to Latin America, both powers are vying for control. And with President Trump's possible trip to Beijing, the stakes are higher than ever. More on that after the break here on China In Focus. Welcome back to China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. At the opening hours of the strikes on Iran, Tehran's surveillance empire built for monitoring citizens helped the U.S. and Israel track the whereabouts of Ali Khamenei, leading to his death. China, the hand that helped build this system for Iran, was unaware it had been hacked by the U.S. for years. The news would send chills through Beijing's leadership. That's because China is operating a surveillance system using the same equipment, but on a much larger scale. According to a Financial Times report last week, before the strikes, U.S. and Israeli intelligence have been observing Iran's streets for years. They used AI models to analyze real-time footage, systematically understanding the regime's internal operations. This intelligence significantly helped the U.S. and Israel target and eliminate the Islamic regime leader. An Israeli intelligence official told the paper that they knew Tehran like they knew Jerusalem. It's worth noting those same surveillance cameras are also stationed around Beijing's streets right now. Top Chinese manufacturers, including Hikvision, Dahua and TND, supply the Islamic regime with surveillance tech ranging from softwares to equipments for decades. That's not only because Beijing and Tehran are allies. The need to control its people has pushed the Chinese regime to continue developing this technology more than any other country. Zineb Rabboa, a policy analyst specializing on Middle East and China, sheds light on the matter. If one looks at it, China has helped Iran's whole telecommunications architecture. They have reshaped it exactly as they would do in Beijing. A lot of those crackdowns that happened in January against the protesters, they happened in such a brutality because Iran was able to use Chinese technology that was absolutely sophisticated but also made in a way that they could track very easily who wears a hijab or not, who is doing this or that, because they perfected it in Uyghur camps. China has more surveillance cameras than any other country and also dominates exports of this technology worldwide. For years governments have raised concerns about backdoors in these Chinese products. Officials worry the cameras could act as Beijing's eyes on their streets. The problem is it's not just Beijing that could access these backdoors. Hackers could too. In 2023, a U.S.-based tech company hacked a Chinese Hikvision camera within 11 seconds. It was part of an experiment in collaboration with the BBC. The U.S. company warns the vulnerability is linked to a backdoor Hikvision built into its cameras, a claim the Chinese company denies. China analysts say the Chinese regime's surveillance tools to monitor and suppress dissidents could backfire. While the regime monitors its citizens, Washington's special agents may be watching too. Some analysts see the Iran conflict as part of a wider U.S.-China rivalry, from Middle Eastern security to infrastructure projects in Latin America, Washington and Beijing are increasingly competing for strategic influence. And with a potential Trump visit to Beijing approaching, the war with Iran intensifies debate over how tough the U.S. should be on China. To unpack it all, American Thought Leader's host, Yania Kalik, spoke with China analyst Gordon Chang. Take a look. I'm getting reports from a few think tanks that basically there aren't any of these new anti-ship missiles or drones being shipped, or there's no kind of rush to support Iran, an increased rush of sales to Iran since this has happened. So I'm kind of wondering, what is China really saying? What are they actually going to do? Have delivered. There are reports of something like 15 to 18 Chinese cargo planes left China's bases and flew into Iranian airspace. We don't know what they brought over, except that there are confirmed reports that they did sell or transfer a particular type of Chinese radar. Now, it didn't do the Iranians very much good because we knew where they were. And when the Iranians powered them up on the 28th, we just took them out. So we didn't lose any aircraft. And it shows that, once again, that Chinese export equipment isn't very good. It somehow did not see more than 150 American aircraft that were near or in Venezuelan airspace. And again, on the 28th of February, they just didn't see our planes. Now, you can say, well, oh, the Chinese radars that they sold the Iranians and the Venezuelans weren't as good as the ones they have at home. And I'm perfectly, you know, that's probably true. But the point is that the stuff that the Chinese are selling to others just is not working against American countermeasures. The Chinese Communist Party is seeking to basically continue to spread its power. Now it's had its power reduced significantly, right? Arguably, it's in its strategic power. Is this something that you expect President Trump to continue to try to kind of remove these allies or prevent them? Is something like a reverse Kissinger, as has been described in some months ago, still a possibility? Yeah, I see Trump not letting up. Well, we started May of last year when Trump's triumphal tour through the Middle East, those three Gulf states, really sort of pushed China and Russia out of the region, or at least out of that part of the region. And what we have witnessed since then is the further reduction of Russian and Chinese influence there. And that's culminated, of course, with the strike on Iran on the 28th of February. And a continuing war. So yes, this is something that's important. And it's not just the Middle East. It's Venezuela, of course. Cuba looks fragile. I don't think the with where he is. In Panama, with the taking away of the two ports of C.K. Hutchison. I don't think we're done there yet as well, because the Chinese have a fourth bridge over the canal that they're building. They've got all of these listening stations throughout South America. The Chinese military is loaded up in Cuba. I don't think Trump's going to allow that to continue. President Trump will be traveling to Beijing. How does all of this, these realities, well, this, of course, the purges as well, but just this Iran war now, how does that impact that visit? Now, he shouldn't go to Beijing for a lot of other reasons, like fentanyl, like COVID. But this is just one more reason why it is wrong for him to go. It is wrong strategically. It is wrong morally. Why strategically wrong? Because what he is doing is he is legitimizing the Chinese regime at a time when it is weak. But more importantly, we see that he is going soft on China on things which he shouldn't. So, for instance, there's reporting, which I believe is accurate, that his administration is not announcing Taiwan weapons packages because he doesn't want to roil relations in the run-up to that March 31 meeting or summit. Also, Trump's Commerce Department is not putting in place important restrictions. So, for instance, Commerce is not banning the installation of Chinese-made equipment in U.S. data centers. Chinese-made equipment can allow the Chinese to steal data and also perhaps to control those centers, maybe shut them down remotely. He's not prohibiting Chinese trucks and buses into the United States. The list goes on and on of things that he is not doing. And he's not doing that, I think, because he doesn't want to get Xi Jinping upset. President Trump went soft on China in the beginning of 2020. I guess he did that because he wanted to sort of take China off the table. In other words, not have it to be a factor in his reelection. And we know how that worked out. And now he's doing the same thing. He's going soft on China in the run-up to the midterms. I don't do domestic politics, but I think that this is not going to be good for the president. Every time he says Xi Jinping is his friend, Republicans do not like it and Americans don't like it. So I think Trump has just misjudged the mood of the American people when it comes to China. That's all for today's China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. If you have any feedback on the show or have something you'd like to see us cover, send us an email at chinainfocusandtd.com. We'd love to hear from you. For on the clock original news coverage, visit us at ntd.com or download our NTD app. Thanks for watching. See you tomorrow.